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Tuesday, 24 March 2015

Today we're joining the STONES AND FINGER BONES blog tour by chatting with author Jessica Minyard. Come get to know more about Jessica and her book.

Hi, Jessica! Welcome to We Do Write. Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello there! Thanks for having me! Long story short, I’m 26, Stones is my first published novel, and I studied creative writing in college. My interests include reading, writing, procrastinating, animal advocacy, musicals, accessories, memes, Harry Potter, and sweet tea.

Aurelia Barone, Jewel of Starry Stone, harbors no illusions about the purpose of her life as heir to the throne. But after two failed betrothals, she starts to feel like nothing more than a pawn being moved aimlessly about a game board.Until the night she loses everything.Kidnapped by a wise-cracking mercenary with more than one identity, Aurelia embarks on a mission across land and sea to avenge her father’s death.But an evil is rising from the ashes of memory. Insidious magic is stirring. The dregs of a once-powerful nation are thirsty for blood and revenge.They seek to harness Aurelia. To tempt her. To manipulate her.And if necessary, to destroy her.

How did the idea of the story come to you?
This is an interesting question, because I actually don’t remember. I’ve been working on this story for so long, that I can’t recall what actually started it. I’m pretty sure I started with Aurelia, and she was a princess, naturally, because I’ve always loved stories about royalty. And then I basically sent her on her merry way with her telepathic cat/familiar.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, there is no longer a telepathic cat. The poor guy got cut a couple years ago because I couldn’t figure out his purpose and the idea of familiars did not fit into the magic system I was creating.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Pantser…as if you couldn’t tell from my previous answer! ☺

Beginnings are one of my favorite parts of writing, because they’re so fun and full of promise and untapped potential! I basically start writing and write until I get stuck, and then I’ll start looking for plot and making notes. I had the end of Stones written well before large portions of the middle, which was a good and bad strategy, I guess.

Good, because I knew where the story was going and only had to write myself there.

Bad, because if anything unexpected cropped up during the middle, I would have to make adjustments to the end.

I’m actually working on making myself a better hybrid of pantser and plotter, especially since Stones is part of a series and I don’t want to lose any plot strings in the process of writing the other books.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?
Everything else? Heh heh heh.

There’s this pretty great quote by Dorothy Parker: “I hate writing, I love having written.”

I think you really have to go through the entire writing process (from idea to first draft to second draft to third draft to beta readers to fourth draft to editor to fifth draft and on and on) before you understand the complete trueness of Parker’s statement. Writing is hard. It’s a lonely, solitary endeavor, rife with self-doubt and overthinking.

Revision, on the other hand, is where the real magic happens. Revision and editing is where you see all the pieces fall together and you can work on making every sentence shine.

Back to your question…the hardest part of writing for me is taking a germ of an idea and turning it into a novel (is that just another way of saying “everything”? Oops). This is why I’m working on my brainstorming skillz. Also, attempting to curb my semi-colon usage. Because I love them.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?
Music on some music playing device, paper, and an assortment of pens. A beverage is nice too.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?
I really wish I was a wizard, so I could learn to Apparate. Failing that, any means of quick teleportation would be a super power I’d like to have.

I would save so much time! And have so much more time to write! Because I would totally use that time productively…

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?
Urm…I’m sure I’ve Googled many weird things over the years…but most recently, I’ll probably have to say “hot priests”. In the name of writing research, of course.

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.
Hooray! Well, I have to thank my mom, again, because her support has been overwhelming. She probably got more excited over the release of Stones than I did; it still doesn’t feel quite real to me.
And I have to thank all my friends, near and far, new and old, for their excitement and for sharing my posts and pictures of themselves holding my book.

And a big thanks to my community and all the support they show to local artists.

Thanks for stopping by the blog!
Thanks for having me! It was great answering your questions!

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